Remember Me?
by NotJasonTodd
Summary: Jason is alive, but with amnesia! This is a little fic I wrote after seeing Jason in the new YJ ep. This is just my own idea of what is happening, and I will update if people like it!
1. Chapter 1

"Again," Talia sat across from Jason, bouncing the baby in her lap. "What is your name?"

"Gray," he paused, "son."

She put her fingers to her temple, frustrated. "No. We've been over this. I don't know why I bother with you anyway."

Jason watched her, eyes unmoving. He wasn't really there, he was off somewhere in his own mind. The small baby let out a cry and Jason fixed his gaze on it. Talia stood up with the child in her arms. Jason watched, transfixed as she adjusted her grip before letting her arms fall to her sides and letting the baby go mid-air.

Jason's arms shot out, catching the child before he had a chance to hit the ground.

"Your reflexes are improving," Talia circled around him, watching him as he held the child in his arms. "You went toe to toe with your former idol. I am quite proud."

She rested a hand on his shoulder, "There still is much work to be done."

He looked up at her, with a look of confusion on his face. He didn't understand much of anything.

"Damian is as much mine as he is yours. I know you are aware of that. When he gets older, I would like him to train with you. Perhaps he can help rescue your memory." She noted, sitting back down, watching Jason intently.

He said nothing, but turned his attention back to the child. Damian let out another cry as Jason propped his neck up with his forearm. She felt helpless, and didn't enjoy the feeling. She was so stubborn for success it was irritating she couldn't just mold Jason how she wanted.

"You are so gentle with him," Talia said, thinking out loud. Jason looked up to her, away from the squirming child in his arms. "You have become a cold killer, but this child has made you weak."

Talia picked Damian up from Jason's arms, unnerved. When Jason had come to them, she had reservations. Especially now, with the new addition to the family, she worried Jason's memory would never return. She would never be able to return him to Bruce, as she had hoped. He would be another failure in a string of failures. She had been focusing her attention to Damian as of late, and didn't like leaving Jason alone. Talia was uncomfortable splitting her time, and would have much rather of fixed one problem before moving onto the next.

"I suppose this is still an improvement," She muttered under her breath, "But you have not gotten any better since Damian showed up. You just need…"

She paused, thinking. What exactly could she offer to help a formerly-dead robin with serious memory issues?

"You need clarity," She finally said, rocking Damian back and forth in her arms, "You need a little push into the deep end, to come out feeling refreshed."

She paused, realizing what she was saying. Ra's would never allow it. But it was just _sitting_ there, no one using it.

Talia stood up, mind made up already. She would not be defeated when success was right under her nose.

"Get up," She commanded, and he stood up, attentive, "Follow me."

Jason curiously followed her, aiming more to protect the child. He had been a guard dog since Damian was born, hurting anyone who even had negative thoughts about the child. He couldn't explain it, even if he wanted to. Talia had guessed it was the innocence of the child, like an animal, Jason could sense when something was helpless. And somehow, he grew attached. A very clingy guard dog, at this point.

"Your body has healed, nicely," She paused, rounding a corner before climbing a staircase down at the end of the hall to the subterranean level of the large mansion. "But your mind is broken, still. And I can try to help, but at this point my attention is divided. I can't raise the both of you."

She unlocked the door at the bottom of the stairs as Jason watched, curious. She paused, looking back at him, "You need the only help I can give you. And if this doesn't heal you, then I have no choice but to keep you until Damian can defend himself, and then dispose of you when you aren't needed. There is no point to nurture something incapable of healing."

Talia opened the door, letting green light fall on the both of them. Jason's eyes widened, he didn't know what he was looking at. As she walked into the room, Jason noticed a large pool of bright neon green liquid in the center of the floor. There was no one else around, and it looked almost like the building had been built around this underground cave in the basement. He followed Talia to the edge of the pool, where he watched the child, unaware that the danger was aimed at him and not Damian.

"I pray this will heal you. I would love nothing more than to deliver you to the Detective whole and complete. Your death has traumatized him so..." She paused, drifting off into the distance before snapping her attention back to Jason. She quickly grabbed a hold of the collar of his tunic and pulled him in for a kiss. She could see in his eyes he was confused, and she was almost mournful as she felt his soft lips on hers. Only a moment later, she flattened her hand on his collarbone and pushed him backward with all of her strength, into the Lazarus Pit.


	2. Chapter 2

Dick sat at the counter, holding a warm mug of coffee in one hand, absentmindedly daydreaming. He had seen Babs today, which always made him happy. After Jason died and Babs was shot, he felt more alone than he had in a while. When he was a kid, he knew how dangerous this was. But over the last few years, he had really started to understand just how fragile life was. After Jason had died, he had turned inward to himself. He didn't necessarily want to become Batman, but Jason's death had made Dick colder, farther away. He felt like he had lost a brother, after just gaining one.

He never really bonded with Jason all that much, which sounded bad now that he was dead. But Dick felt replaced by Jason, like his legacy was being tarnished. They had trained together a lot, and ran a few missions with the team, but Dick always had a little nugget of resent for Jason. He figured that made him a horrible person, resenting a dead child.

When Jason had died, Wally stayed with Dick for a few days. Wally really had been the one to get Dick through it. And after Wally died Dick learned that getting close to people just hurt more in the end. Sure, he was still close with the team, but Artemis moved in with Roy/Will and Kaldur had become Aquaman now. Everyone had different priorities and Dick was still…well, Dick. He was still Nightwing, he was still a loner, brooding son to the Dark Knight.

He took a sip of the coffee in front of him, mind drifting to everyone he had lost. He didn't mean to be a downer, but some days the world seemed to close in on him. Some days everything around him just became too much and he was crushed under the weight of all the sorrow.

Babs understood better than most, possibly because she had lost everything too. She was the one he turned to, after Wally. He had reservations for the longest time about dating, fearing he would bring more harm her way. But she had an amazing power to make him vulnerable. When she was around, she had a way of getting out the exact thing that needed to be said, and making him deal with everything he didn't want to.

Dick figured that was why he had held off on figuring out what to do with Brion and Halo. He didn't want to see more kids die because he had unnecessarily put them in harm's way.

He stood up abruptly, getting annoyed at his own internal self-pity. He walked across the apartment to his bedroom, grabbing the discarded suit on the floor and tugging it on. Before a minute he had passed, he was out the window and into the cold Bludhaven air.

Dick leaped and ran and exerted all of his energy running on the rooftops until he reached the shore in the harbor. There was something else that was on his mind, but he didn't want to think about it.

As he steadied himself, on the roof of a warehouse on the shoreline, he fiddled with his domino mask. Tim had built a camera into all the new suits, so they could record what they saw and send live feeds anywhere. Dick and Babs had played with it more, creating a little network just between the two of them. He fiddled with the buttons on the side before pulling up the footage from Infinity Island.

Dick took a deep breath and watched the sun start to rise over the sea, before sitting down onto the gravel rooftop. He fiddled with the time stamps in the video before he got to the part he wanted.

He could clearly see SB leaping into the air before the ninja in the red hood ran out from nowhere. Jefferson threw a few balls of electricity in his direction, but before they could hit the ninja was already in the air, flipping over them. He remembered this surprising him, given that Black Lightening was a powerful force. This ninja must have had some good training.

Dick didn't really even know why he was reviewing the tape, just that he felt foggy. There was something familiar about the way the ninja felt. It wasn't like his energy or anything like that, it was just a feeling Dick had, a presence. He felt a nagging sense of familiarity there that he could not place.

The ninja held the sword above Dick, as Dick jumped with ease around the jabs. Again, there was a strange choreography to it all. Like he had made these steps before, they had danced this dance already.

The ninja lunged down again, catching the sword between Dick's escrima sticks. Dick grunted, holding his weight against the ninja, and it was then that he got a good look at the mask. It was odd-looking, with red light emanating out of the eye sockets. It was eerie in a way. Dick kicked upwards, throwing the ninja off before he could react.

The ninja managed to land a kick square on Dick's ribcage, but somehow controlled a lot of his force. Dick's ribs still hurt, but a kick like that should have broken ribs. Again, Dick had a nagging sense in the back of his mind. Something didn't make sense. It was at that moment, Black Lightening jumped back into play, sending bolts at the red hooded ninja.

Dick squared off again, ready to face the ninja as Ra's voice boomed out from the darkness. He stood up straighter, mirroring the assassin next to him. It sent goosebumps down his spine. Even stranger still, Ra's taunted him.

"Are you proud of this little debacle?" Ra's said as he stepped from the shadows, "I believe the Detective would be quite disappointed."

Dick watched as the camera moved slightly, showing the ninja in view in front of Ra's. He couldn't see it in the footage, but at that moment he had felt something. Almost like a moment of recognition, as the red hooded ninja stiffened at the name Detective. It was subtle, but a good clue. He figured if his hunch was right, this was some sort of hired assassin, maybe a kidnapped teen, being trained by the League for the purpose of destroying Batman. Why else would he be sensitive to the name? Plus, there was the fact that he targeted Dick and Dick alone. Even when Jefferson was shooting at him, he focused only on Dick, paying little mind to anyone else.

Dick stopped the footage, still confused. If it was some sort of would-be assassin, he should probably tell Bruce. Even if Bruce thought it was nothing, he should probably be on the lookout. He stood up, blinking in the direct sunlight coming from the bay.

He had made up his mind. Tomorrow, he would go to Gotham and talk to Bruce, if only to set his mind at ease about this ninja.


	3. Chapter 3

Jason's shoulders hunched in the cover of darkness. His eyes darted across the folders, pulling a few at random. Flipping open, he could tell immediately that Egron was dealing something illegal here. From what Jason could tell, Egron was moving a ton of product, which was the first thing that tipped him off. Why would a trained assassin need to move anything? Flipping through more of the files, he noticed one similarity. All the files corresponded to a missing child. Egron was dealing child slaves. Jason had figured as much. Scumbag.

The sound of a truck's engine starting up outside knocked Jason from his trance. He peered out the window, seeing two large trucks being loaded up with small children outside. He quickly counted in his head, figuring it would take at most forty-five minutes for the trucks to be on the move. Luckily, he was faster.

-à

As the truck rounded the bend, the night disappeared behind them. The snow hit the windshield softly under the Russian sky, and the forest around them looked almost serene, like something from a movie. The two German drivers seemed nonchalant about the trafficked kids in the back. They seemed unaware about the real danger looming overhead.

"What the hell is that?" One of the drivers asked, noticing a blockage on the road in front of them.

"No one is supposed to be on this road," The other man answered, blinking at the fiery wreckage, before the truck came to a stop. In the middle of the road was a semi-truck on its side, covered in fire.

Before the drives had a moment to inspect the situation, Jason had done what he came to do. He sent bullets through the entire windshield, shattering the driver's collarbone, wounding the passenger. He sauntered from behind the flaming truck to the passenger side door, slinging the rifle back over his shoulder almost comically.

"I think your friend is bleeding to death," Jason yelled through the shattered window, while pulling another handgun from his waist. He put the gun to the German passenger's temple, "Take me to Egron, or you will too."

-à

By the time Jason kicked down Ergon's door, the trucks with the trafficked kids were two hours late. He could hear Ergon yelling behind the door, demanding to be told what was going on. Jason almost felt pity for him. Ergon had been an alright teacher, for a while. After Talia restored his memory, he had fled the League. Ra's had not been happy to hear his personal fountain of youth had been used to partially resurrect a gutter rat like Jason Todd. Talia had arranged a series of mentors to train Jason further, still believing she could present him to Batman as a Full Not Broken Person. But, after the previous three mentors turned up dead right after Jason was sent to them, didn't look promising to her.

Prior to Ergon, Jason had been sent to train with poisons with another connection Talia had in Egypt. Jason trained with him for three months before uncovering a rather unholy amount of fentanyl in his basement. And again, the man was suspiciously murdered and every trace of evidence burned. Jason felt better actually, and everyone went on with their lives, one less scumbag out there dealing drugs on the streets.

At least Ergon was a decent assassin. Jason had been training with him for about six months at this point. Ergon was a bratty, energetic Russian man with suspicious ties to underground mob activities. Originally, he had been a hitman for the KGB, but after his discharge he found new ways to use his skills. Jason thought Ergon was more annoying than anything. Ergon had a God-complex and a rotten attitude to boot. He would constantly sip fizzy pink energy drinks and speak in broken English, just to piss off Jason.

Jason dropped the red hood on his jacket as he walked up to the door. Surprisingly, no one was guarding it. Maybe they had bigger things on their mind, like a dozen escaped slave children. With a mighty kick, Jason knocked the door from its hinges into the room. Ergon wasn't an idiot, and as soon as he heard the noise he dropped to the ground to avoid gunfire. The pink energy drink in his hand crashed to the ground, leaving a bubbling stain on the hardwood beside him.

When the dust settled, Ergon looked up, almost surprised to see Jason standing over him. In reality, Jason didn't look all that menacing. He looked like a tired seventeen-year-old kid, with a Band-Aid on his cheek and a worn-out leather jacket. The Beretta in his hand looked more menacing than he did.

"You little bastard," Ergo ducked as Jason fired two shots his direction. "You? This is your doing?"

He leapt with all of his anger, knocking Jason down and the gun out of his hand to the floor. Jason wasn't at all prepared for it, and felt the wind knock out of him for a moment as he fell backward.

"Tell me what you did! Where are they?" Ergon's face got redder as he picked Jason up by his jacket and slammed his back into the wall behind them.

"You know, your accent gets thicker when you're pissed. It's cute," Jason smiled, even though his left eye was swelling up so bad he could hardly see from it anymore. He wasn't worried.

Ergon's eyes lit up red with fury before he smashed his forehead into Todd's, leaving a trail of bright red blood dripping from Jason's now-broken nose. Yeah, that hurt.

"You think you are clever? You think this is some game? Rich American punk!" Ergon yelled, hoisting Jason up again before slamming his face down into the floorboards. "I teach you how to throw a few punches, and now you think you can actually strike at me? Do you?!"

By this point, Jason was smiling, which only made Ergon madder. Jason turned over, laying on his back, staring straight up at his former master, blood dripping from his nose across his cheek. His eyes were icy, not at all weakened by the beating he had taken.

He smirked again, "No, that's why I poisoned your energy drink."

-à

"I dropped the kids off at the British Embassy before I went back and burned everything to the ground. No one will know I was there."

"This is an odd turn. I find you a teacher and you murder him." Talia rolled her eyes, annoyed. Now she would have to find another teacher for Jason. Again.

" _'Murder'_ sounds a bit fancy. I didn't orchestrate whacking him over an inheritance. I spiked his bug juice because he was a _dirtbag_ ," Jason said sharply. He looked a mess, covered in bruises and ash, but he felt more alive than he had in a while.

"Why not just walk away and call the authorities?" Talia asked, leaning back in her chair, genuinely curious.

Jason paused, "I heard stuff. He had connections to the cops. Had a few politicians who he did _work_ for. He wasn't gonna get locked up. But he was _greedy_. No lieutenants. Just muscle. The operation ran through him."

He paused again, looking down at his hands in his lap. "So, if it was going to end, it had to end with him. I didn't _'murder'_ him. You murder people. I put a reptile down. Don't tell me the world isn't better off."

Talia paused, watching him for a moment. He had so much life in him, somehow. His passion gave life to all the ideas and plans she had. Through him, she could see a future she actually would want Damian to be a part of. Jason would be her saving grace. He had a raw power inside of him, and Talia almost thought if anyone would take down Batman, it was him. He had passion.

"Why are you smiling?" Jason asked nervously, thinking he would be punished.

"You are learning," Talia said softly, absentmindedly turning her attention to the window.

"Yeah," Jason paused, looking down again, "I guess I am."

* * *

 **A/N: I don't have anything from YJ to really base Jason's character on. So this is basically a scene from the Lost Days arc, I just tinkered around with it a little bit & added more detail. I hope you all enjoy(also I tried my best with talia but she is just not my best character to write)! Please leave feedback! **


	4. Chapter 4

Nightwing shifted his weight from one foot to the other, trying to keep moving so he wouldn't feel the cold. He paused, exhaling, watching the steam from his own breath twist into the night air. He could hear the bustling city below, alive even in the dead of the night. It was around two am, and the patrons from the local bars were starting to spill out into the streets.

 _I have movement on 9thstreet,_ Babs whispered in his ear, jolting him back to reality. _Looks grisly._

Nightwing paused, "I was just there a few hours ago."

 _Yeah I know, I saw movement on the GCPD cams, and there is some blood spilling onto the sidewalk._ She paused, _Should I call Bats?_

"No, it's fine, I can handle it," He put his finger up to the communicator before looking back down to the streets below. The drunks were laughing, nothing suspicious.

Nightwing turned to the opposite end of the rooftop before breaking into a light run. He jumped to the next building over, landing hard on his ankle. He swore under his breath before hitting the gravel again.

 _You can just take a cab you know,_ Babs teased. He forgot she had eyes everywhere.

"You shut it, I meant to do that," He smiled before catching his stride again, leaping to the next rooftop with ease. He heard her crystal-clear laugh cut through the stillness, and it almost melted his heart.

After Jason had died, Dick had isolated himself a lot more. Having Babs guiding him, in his ear, was helpful. It reminded him that he wasn't Bats. He had help, people everywhere who cared about him. In a way, he loved Babs because she had showed him what real love was like. She cared for him, and made sure he was okay. He hadn't even felt close like that to Bruce, as he grew up fairly independent at the manor.

He admired Babs. Especially after what had happened. She had survived something that would break most people. She didn't let her trauma tear her down. In reality, Dick didn't quite understand. He saw her disability through rose-colored lenses. He thought she was miraculous, seeing her happy and healthy. He didn't see the times she was really hurting. He didn't pull her up off the bathroom floor after she had fallen. He wasn't the one fighting with countless surgeons, physical therapists, and doctors. He wasn't the one who lost his legs. But even without the rose-colored lenses, she was a powerful force to be reckoned with. That much was true.

By the time Dick had bounded to 9thstreet, the stench of death washed over him. Just seeing the blood on the sidewalk, illuminated under the streetlight was enough for him to call for backup.

"You know," He paused, eyes locked on the dark stain on the pavement, "I think you should call Bats. This is his city. He'd want to know."

At least, that was how he justified it to himself. No matter how much he trained or prepped, he wasn't Batman. He was Nightwing, and death still affected him. Besides, he'd rather have Bats deal with the GCPD. He was better with cops. Batman wasn't unnerved by death, like most people were. It comforted him, in a way. It was static, unchanging. Everyone would die, and everyone would decompose. He was able to disconnect himself from the suffering and pain, and get to the truth under all of the carnage.

Nightwing silently crept to the opening in the buildings. It was a dark ally, in between a coffee shop and a dollar general. This part of town wasn't exactly known for random killings. This was a nice area, popular for tourists from out of town. The shopping mall was close, and the homeless seemed to avoid the area.

He paused, looking into the ally. It was dark, but the silhouette against the back wall was identifiable.

"Shadows?" Batman's voice cut through the air and Nightwing literally jumped out of sheer fright.

"Jesus Christ," Nightwing took a deep gulp of air before turning around and meeting Bats face to face. "Good thing you didn't bring Tim. He's not old enough to see this."

Batman said nothing. He paused before walking to the puddle of blood on the sidewalk. He knelt down carefully and took a small sample of the blood before looking into the ally beyond.

Straight back, there was a brick wall dead end. There were a few big garbage cans lined across one side, but in the middle of the wall was the figure of a man slumped over. The blood trailed from the street to the wall where he lay, as if he had been killed and then dragged backwards.

"This doesn't seem like Shadow's M.O." Nightwing said, walking closer to the body in the darkness. "You should get the Commissioner on the phone."

"He already knows. They'll be here in a few minutes," Bruce said, resting a hand on Dick's shoulder. He was so rarely touchy like this, but clearly Nightwing was upset. His stomach was queasy and he didn't want Batman to notice. But, Batman being Batman, already had.

The man was slumped over to one side, but his head was missing. Well, not really missing, it was just not where it was supposed to be. His head was in his lap, cradled in his hands, horrified expression still on his face. Dick took a deep breath, somehow smelling the metallic scent of pennies in the air, it was starting to make him gag.

Batman touched the wall, noting a red bat-symbol painted above the man's neck. It looked like it had been haphazardly drawn with someone's fingers. It was still wet too, as blood was starting to drip from the macabre mural.

Dick turned his back to the scene, trying to focus. "If he was killed in the street we can pull up the GCPD traffic camera footage."

"This doesn't look like the work of an amateur," Batman paused, "I doubt whoever did this would do it in plain sight."

"So, what are you thinking?" Dick asked, hearing police sirens in the distance.

"Looks like someone is trying to get my attention," Batman paused, trying to put all the pieces together like a puzzle.

Nightwing hesitated, blinking a few times. If someone wanted attention from the Bats, that usually didn't mean well. He bit the inside of his cheek, "Are there any prints on the wall?"

"A partial," Batman paused, looking over the scene again.

The sirens were getting closer as Nightwing jumped up, grabbing a hold of the second story apartment fire escape above the first-floor coffee shop. From above, the scene was a lot clearer. The guy had been beheaded near the street, then dragged backward and posed like a mannequin in a shop window.

"New serial killer?" Nightwing asked. Batman was busy inspecting the man's shoes for whatever reason.

"Could be," He raised his voice slightly as the sirens pulled to a stop outside the ally. "Although the guy has training. This is clean cut."

Batman pointed one gloved finger to the man's neck, "You have to be pretty strong to slice through someone's neck with one blow."

Nightwing nodded, "Must be a damn sharp sword too."

Batman nodded before realizing that they had accurately figured out the murder weapon. Although neither of them could think of someone who had a sword like that, training, and wasn't a shadow.

Several cops rushed to the ally, guns drawn. Nightwing was almost surprised Bats had called them, as they tended to be more of an annoyance, especially on complex cases like these. Batman shot his bat-a-rang to the fire escape several floors above Dick as the first of the cops walked into the ally.

Nightwing climbed up slowly before meeting Bats on the roof. The scene was still fresh in his mind; he knew he probably wouldn't sleep after seeing that. He wanted to talk to Babs. Maybe she would have a fresh perspective on all of this.

"I'll stick around here," Bat's said, motioning to the cops below destroying all the usable evidence. "You don't need to concern yourself with this."

Dick blinked, annoyed at that. He didn't necessarily want to stay, or to figure out what this was. He would rather Bruce handle it all, in a selfish way Dick didn't want to think about it. Something about all the decay, just made him panic. It quite possibly could have just been the fact that death reminded him of Batman. Something inside him told him that this wouldn't be the last he heard of this. He didn't bother to fight Batman on it, though. He didn't want to be surrounded by so much darkness.

Nightwing watched a scene for another few minutes, next to Bruce. The Commissioner made his way inside before looking up directly to Batman. He put his hands up in a shrug, almost a ' _what the fuck is this_ ' motion. Dick almost smiled. Before he could say anything, Bats made his entrance, jumping back down to the pavement below to talk to Gordon.

 _Is my dad there?_ Babs asked quietly.

"Yeah he and Bruce are talking. You were right, pretty grisly. Did you find anything on the GCPD feed?" He asked, still watching the scene below. The commissioner started whispering in a hushed tone to Batman, still somehow commanding all the authority there was to give. He wasn't intimidated by Batman, he just wanted to keep the city safe. They had the same goal. In a way, Dick and Babs were raised on two different sides of the same coin.

 _Well yeah, but I don't know how useful it will be to you._ She paused, _I'll patch you in._

The lenses of his domino suddenly flashed away from the rooftop and instead flipped to showing him a view from the neighboring coffee shop. They had a security camera in the doorframe, and just to the left Nightwing could see the man standing on the sidewalk. He had his phone in his hand, almost as if he was anxiously waiting for someone.

As if from nowhere, a silver flash of reflective light sliced through the feed before the camera cut off.

"What was that?" Nightwing commed to Babs as his domino turned back to the dark Gotham night around him.

 _I'm assuming it was a sword._ Babs said. He could hear the hesitancy in her voice. _But Dick, it's not right. This isn't the GCPD feed. This is from the Batman Inc files. Batman and the family are the only people who have the codes to access these files. How would anyone know that? And then know to cut the feed preventatively…?_

Nightwing paused, looking down below again. The Commissioner was tentatively looking over the body, still hollering instructions to all the others behind him. Batman stood back, a dark shadow looming over the entire ally.

"So you're saying-" He paused again, franticly trying to think.

 _Yeah. This is an inside job, or we have a leak._


	5. Chapter 5

"Hood, do you read?" Talia hissed over the comms, "Bats is on the scene already. Your brother looks a little sick."

Jason skidded to a halt, looking up to the night and gulping in a deep breath of air.

"Shit yeah," He panted, knowing he should be far enough from danger now. "I copy."

"You did an excellent job," Talia said. "Head to the hideout, I have something for you."

He paused, catching his breath as the line went dead, Talia was never one for goodbyes. He cracked his neck to both sides before turning around and looking backward, almost as if he would catch a glimpse of the Bat. Being in Gotham felt weird to him. It wasn't how he remembered, and there was so much trauma wrapped up in his mind, he couldn't quite discern what was real or not.

Even so, he could feel his heart beat inside his chest, adrenaline still coursing through his body. He hadn't felt a thrill like this in a while. He could feel the end getting closer, he was almost ready to best the Bats at his own game. He had an image in his mind, of him standing over a broken and battered Batman, ready to be the _true_ king of Gotham. That was something Batman never understood, that sometimes people didn't deserve a second change. He was so hell bent on keeping to his moral code, and he would sacrifice anyone who came in the way. Jason knew that first hand.

He shivered under the night sky, it was darker than he remembered. The blood had seeped through his tunic, and he looked a mess. His hair was tamped down to his face and neck under the hood, and there was blood still dripping from his fingers.

He looked like an assassin.

Only a moment later, he heard the sound of footfall behind him, and he wasted no time jumping to action.

He took off running, bounding quickly across the rooftops. The crunch of gravel behind let him know that he was now being followed. He didn't stop to look, somewhat fearing that no one was behind him at all. He could trust his senses, most days. Night were another matter entirely.

As he hopped across a clearing to the adjacent bank of storefronts, he could hear his follower quickly gaining behind him. He didn't understand, the footfalls were irregular. This wasn't an adult following him.

He paused long enough to spin around, catching the stalker mid-jump. As he landed, Jason unsheathed his sword, still covered in blood from the last man he killed.

" _You,_ " Jason shot venomously, seeing red. He couldn't be sure he was even seeing correctly, but he knew that uniform anywhere. "You don't even know what a _big mistake_ you just made."

Robin stood, swaying on his feet slightly, feeling strange. He didn't expect this kind of reaction from a shadow. He raised his hand up slowly, placing his hand to the communicator in his ear.

"You are in Gotham, you can't pretend you weren't expecting this." Tim smiled under his domino, unaware of the amount of danger he was actually in. But, the shadow didn't know that Tim's communicator was on and broadcasting their conversation straight to the Cave.

"You should have _died_!" Jason screamed, not fully in control of himself. He lunged forward, mad with rage. Robin easily slid out of the way, but shook himself. Shadows weren't known for being sloppy. This was different.

Jason lunged again, slicing his sword through the air as Robin flung himself backward. He held the sword to the side, like a dagger. He could feel himself losing it, all of his training. The rage was bubbling up and consuming him. He sliced through the air again, forcing Robin to jump back again. "Fuck you!"

"Woah man," Robin blinked under his domino, confused. "What did I ever do to you?"

Jason's eyes flashed with red fury again as he faked left and sliced right, catching Robins bicep with his blade. As blood ran down his sword, he became even more feral. Robin yelped in surprise before ducking down and rolling to the side. He hunched over, looking over the cut. It wasn't too deep, but he'd probably need some stitches.

"Fuck you!" Jason cried again, smiling like an animal. He paused, just watching Robin for a moment, like how a cat would stalk their prey. "You are _nothing_. You're a goddamn _imposter_. You're a _liar_. You're a _fake_. You stole _everything from me_."

"Are you serious?" Robin quipped, crouching. He was really getting annoyed of this. "I don't even know you. Who even are you?"

Jason's eyes flashed with red again before he saw the figure behind Robin. There was something moving, just across the skyline. It was coming closer. It was blue.

Jason blinked, trying to compose himself for another emotional encounter. He took a few steps forward, not looking at Robin at all, before he flipped the blade outward letting a splatter of blood hit the cement rooftop.

Robin blinked, jumping to his feet, noticing that the shadow was distracted. However, the shadow was waiting. As Robin hopped to his feet, the shadow moved as quick as lightning behind. Jason grabbed a hold of Robin's neck with his arm, pinning the teen across his chest. He raised the sword, pressing it lightly to Robin's neck, as they faced the darkness.

"I am _you_ ," Jason said cryptically.

Nightwing jumped to the rooftop, looking unconcerned by this. He had been listening to Robin's communicator and had zeroed in on them. But at first glance, the shadow looked familiar.

"Oh, it's you!" Nightwing laughed, "I swear I was just thinking about you the other day. How did everything go on Infinity Island after we left? Cleanup go okay?"

Jason blinked, still holding Robin tightly to his chest. His mind was spinning. What was happening?

"You know," Nightwing paused a few feet from the two of them, "I don't know who you think you are, beheading a guy in Gotham and thinking you won't get caught."

Jason blinked again, under the mask. He was confused. His mind was spinning and he couldn't keep up with it. Everything was too crisp now, it had to be a hallucination. He was sitting in the safehouse, dreaming about killing the new Robin. This couldn't all be real.

Nightwing kept talking, "See, I also know that you had to have hacked our servers. Or you're working for someone, but I don't think the League has that kind of insider knowledge of the way we run this town."

" _We_ ," Jason couldn't help but laugh. The blade slipped an inch from Robin's neck. "You don't run anything. You are a lackey. You both are. You mean nothing to him."

"That's another thing," Dick flicked his gaze to Tim, noticing the cut on his arm. "The shadows usually hire crazy people."

Jason's grip tightened on the sword, drawing blood from Robin's neck.

"I'm not a shadow," Jason said curtly.

"Which then begs the question," Nightwing crouched down, ready to grab for his escrima sticks. "Who are you?"

Jason shook his head, this couldn't be real. The blood from Robin's neck started dripping down his uniform, and Jason could feel him trying to control his breathing under his arm.

 _"Okay yes, that's perfect. Focus on the diaphragm." Bruce's face looked stern. Jason closed his eyes, trying to visualize not moving, being perfectly still. He could feel the book starting to fall. A few seconds later, it fell and hit the floor and Jason exhaled, annoyed with himself._

 _"That was the longest one yet, but still. This will save your life someday, you have to focus on your breath. Being still will follow. If you focus on the breath, the book won't fall." Bruce reached down as Jason rolled his eyes. He would have so much rather been on patrol, actually doing something useful._

 _"Okay ready?" Bruce stood up, holding the book up, handing it to Jason. Jason rolled his eyes again before putting the book back on top of his head, keeping it balanced. "I saw that. Time starts now; breathe."_

"Wouldn't you like to know," Jason grumbled, pushing the memory away. He pushed the blade again, drawing another few drips of blood. Robin made no sound.

They all stood like that, for a while. No one dared make a move, no one dared make a sound. The wheels in Jason's head were turning, this wasn't how he planned this. He wasn't ready. It sounded silly, but he wasn't strong enough. He couldn't be strong enough yet. He didn't want the day to be today, he needed more time.

Abruptly, he flicked the blade out, and pushed Robin with all of his might down to the pavement below. As the blade was lifted, Robin let himself be pushed, using the force to scatter farther from the shadow.

Jason pointed the bloody sword at Nightwing, across from him.

"I am going to kill you. All of you. I am going to kill every last one of you." Jason paused, seeing red spots at the sides of his vision. "And when you are gone, I will be left to bury Bruce and I will save this goddamn city the way he never could."


End file.
